Many employment law changes came into effect from April 2024, which could have an impact on your business. H-J Dobbie, Head of HR Consultancy at Azets, explores them below.
1. Holiday for variable hours contracts
For holiday years starting in April 2024, businesses can revert to the 12.07% method for calculating holiday entitlement and pay for variable hours workers (zero hours, casual hours, seasonal workers, term time only, etc). The basic calculation for entitlement is:
- No. of hours worked in the pay period x 12.07% = holiday entitlement
Holiday pay is calculated as follows:
- Total no. of hours worked x £hourly rate = £A
- Divide £A by 100, rounding to the nearest pence = £B.bb
- Multiply £B.bb by 12.07 = £C.cccc
- Round £C.cccc up or down to nearest pence = £X.xx
The answer after the above calculation is the holiday pay for that pay period. This can now be paid as rolled up holiday pay in each pay period, as long as it is shown as a separate line on the payslip.
2. Statutory payments
We have seen bigger than normal increases in statutory payments, including:
- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – £116.75pw from 6th April
- Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) – £184.03pw from 7th April (and all other family friendly payments)
- Redundancy weekly cap – £700pw (£21,000 max) from 6th April
- Statutory guaranteed pay – £38 per day from 6th April
- National Minimum Wage/National Living Wage (NMW/NLW) – NLW is now from the age of 21, not 23 years of age.
- 21+ £11.44ph /18-20 £8.60ph
- <18 £6.40ph / Apprentice £6.40ph
3. Right to request flexible working
Flexible working requests are now a day one right, and two requests can be made in any 12-month period. The employee no longer has to provide a business case for how the proposed changes affect the business/can be overcome. Employees have to be consulted with if the request is being refused, but businesses now only have two months in which to respond to any request, including time for an appeal.
4. Paternity Leave
Employees now only have to give 28 days’ notice of paternity leave, although they still need to notify the business of their intention to take paternity leave by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC)/placement.
Employees can now take one week, two consecutive weeks or two non-consecutive weeks within 52 weeks of the baby’s birth or placement for adoption, as opposed to the one week or two consecutive weeks within 8 weeks of the birth/placement.
5. Redundancy and maternity
There are now additional protections against redundancy for pregnant ladies, ladies on maternity and ladies returning from maternity leave. Employees have protection from the day they notify their employer of their pregnancy, and for 18 months after they have returned to work following maternity leave. They have to be offered a suitable alternative role above anyone else. This does not prevent redundancies per se but does mean additional precautions have to be taken to avoid a pregnancy/maternity discrimination claim.
6. Carer’s Leave
New legislation that entitles employees to one week of unpaid leave every 12 months to give or arrange care for a ‘dependant’ who has a physical or mental illness or injury where they’re expected to need care for more than 3 months, a disability (as defined in the Equality Act 2010), or care needs because of old age. The dependant does not have to be a family member, it can be anyone who relies on them for care. This is a day one right, but a minimum of half a day has to be taken when booked.
We are here to help
To discuss any of the changes above or any further legislation changes planned, please get in touch.
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H-J Dobbie
Head of HR Consultancy at Azets
Information correct at time of publishing, but may be subject to change in future. This article is for general information only and is not intended to be advice to any specific person. You are recommended to seek professional advice before taking or refraining from taking action on the basis of the contents of this article.
